- 8.
Ethan never appeared again.
I returned six years later after my studies
abroad, planning to care for Ethan’s parents.
Perhaps disappointed in their son, they’d
adopted another daughter, a sweet, kind, and
well–behaved child. She brightened their lives.
They looked younger. I loved her as my own.
sister.
She got top marks, and I promised her a
puppy.
There was a pet store near our building. She
went inside, and I waited outside.
I saw a man in the nearby clinic who looked
familiar; a scarred face, a limp.
Turning, he covered his face and fled as soon
as our eyes met.
<
A pet shop employee explained,
“That’s Mr. Mute. He opened a clinic last
year. He was a doctor, but he made a mistake
and got fired. He’s good, but his voice is
gone. He married an ex–con last year, her
face is scarred. They fight all the time,
sometimes even with knives. He calls her a
monster, a curse. She ruined his life…”
My sister came out, happy with her puppy.
I paid for it.
Then I heard a scream. My sister was fine,
but there was a murder in the clinic. I
shielded her eyes.
A crazed man stabbed the man lying in a pool
of blood Mr. Mute. It was Ethan.
The killer stabbed him repeatedly, then moved
toward Olivia.
A week later, the police announced that Ethan
and Olivia had been murdered.
A medical malpractice case. Ethan had
prescribed the correct medication, but Olivia, having argued with the victim’s wife,
substituted the medication, causing the
woman’s death. The victim’s unborn child also
died. He was deeply attached to the child, his only son. So he snapped, attacking Ethan’s clinic after Olivia sent a mocking message to
the victim’s wife.
